• Mob left out of record low unemployment
• Mawarnkarra CEO’s 30+ years of service
• Lung health for children training
• Eliminating Hep C as public health concern
• ‘Impending and significant’ health crisis
• ACCHO CEO calls out cherry-picked data 
• Connection to Country on campus
• Winnunga News June 2022 edition
• New process for job advertising

Mob left out of record low unemployment

The National Employment Services Association (NESA) says First Nations people and other disadvantaged Australians are being left out of record low unemployment figures. Last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data reported unemployment remained at a record low 3.9% in May.

But NESA principal policy advisor Annette Gill said the real numbers were much higher. “They focus so narrowly on the official unemployment rate to talk about how well our labour market is doing,” she said. “And that’s a choice the politicians have, basically. It’s not something many Australians actually understand. (The employment) rate among Indigenous Australians is considerably lower than it is for the rest of the population.”

NESA senior policy advisor Alicia Weiderman said many First Nations people had historically been excluded from statistical analysis such as employment figures. “What we still know, though, at the high level on the data, as it is reported, is that historically Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander peoples unemployment rates have sat fairly consistently at three times that of their non Indigenous counterparts,” she said.

To view the National Indigenous Times article Industry peak body calls out Indigenous exclusion in latest unemployment rates in full click here.

Mawarnkarra CEO’s 30+ years of service

Mawarnkarra Health Service CEO and local Roebourne woman Joan Hicks is a familiar face and much respected community leader in our community. She started as a trainee health worker in 1990 when concern for the health of a family member took Joan to the old clinic on Crawford Way to talk to the registered nurse who encouraged her to apply for the role. Joan has been part of Mawarnkarra Health Service for 32 years. Joan worked as a health worker in the old Aboriginal Corporation from 1990–2000, before joining the MHS Board in 2000 and eventually becoming the chair of the board and, later, the CEO.

Joan has watched MHS grow from a small clinic with one registered nurse, a part time doctor from Wickham Hospital and admin staff to what it is today. Over time Joan says she developed a passion for Aboriginal health and could see the importance of Mawarnkarra and the great service and work that is done through the organisation.

Joan is a Ngarluma woman with family connections to Yindjibarndi and is very proud of the Mawarnkarra Health Service and what it stands for. “I enjoy being part of a fantastic team of 60-plus staff,” Joan said. “I also have a great board of directors, most of whom have been on this awesome journey with me,” Joan added.

You can access the story on the Mawarnkarra Health Service Facebook page here.

Lung health for children training

Lung Foundation Australia recently released two new accredited eLearning modules about chronic wet cough called Lung Health in First Nations Children. Chronic respiratory disease is highly prevalent amongst First Nations children. Disease progression can be halted and even reversed when diagnosed and treated early.

The free training provides a supportive tool for health professionals to improving lung health outcomes. Topics include:

• Fundamentals of providing culturally secure care to First Nations families
• Respiratory diseases prevalent in First Nations children and
• Appropriate ways of diagnosing and managing lung conditions.

These modules, developed in collaboration with Telethon Kids Institute and the Western Australian Health Translation Network, have been designed to be culturally appropriate and provide the opportunity to learn ways of providing culturally secure care.

The online training is free and accredited with RACGP and ACRRM. Each module is worth 2 CPD points and will take approximately one hour to complete. You can find out more about the eLearning modules and enrol here.

Eliminating Hep C as public health concern

NSW Health has today released a comprehensive plan to eliminate hepatitis C as a public health concern by 2028 with the NSW Hepatitis C Strategy 2022 – 2025. Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the new strategy is centred on prevention, testing, treatment and addressing stigma and discrimination associated with the disease. “The strategy aims to reduce hepatitis C infections by 60% decrease the number of deaths linked to hepatitis C, remove the stigma linked to the virus and increase testing and treatment,” Dr Chant said.

The NSW Hepatitis C Strategy 2022-2025 highlights priority groups who are disproportionately affected by hepatitis C for improved health outcomes. Hepatitis C disproportionately affects Aboriginal people in NSW. In 2019, the notification rate for hepatitis C was 11 times higher in Aboriginal people compared with the rest of the population. Building on partnerships already in place with Aboriginal communities, the strategy aims to bolster education, improve access to harm reduction services and support increased access to testing and treatment in Aboriginal Health Services.

To view the NSW Health webpage Towards the elimination of hepatitis C as a public health concern in full click here and the NSW Hepatitis C Strategy 2022–2025 here.

‘Impending and significant’ health crisis

Winnunga CEO Julie Tongs has called out the ACT government for “rely[ing] on ABS data for internal purposes but point[ing] to a much narrower set of data for public purposes. Ms Tongs said that because of the yawning difference between the ACT Aboriginal recidivism rate published by the ACT government at the end of 2020 (over 90 %), which was recently confirmed by the ABS, and the 40% rate recently claimed by acting commissioner for corrections Ray Johnson on ABC radio, she wrote to ACT Corrective Services seeking clarification on the issue.

In response the Directorate advised that “The ACT had 38.5% of detainees (released in 2018-19) returning to prison (within two years from their release) against 45.2% nationally. The return rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees was 44% compared to 56.8 per cent nationwide.”

Ms Tongs said that in this case the ACT government relies on data that relates only to detainees who were re-imprisoned within two years of release and completely ignores the rest. If the information is based on the latest ABS data on recidivism rates of all detainees and not just those re-imprisoned within two years of release it tells a very different story.

To read the CBR CityNews article Lies, damned lies and ACT government statistics in full click here.

Connection to Country on campus

A visionary long-term project will embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander design values on University of Queensland campuses, reshaping them over time to better recognise and celebrate Indigenous connections. UQ Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Engagement, Professor Bronwyn Fredericks, , said the framework was a tremendous achievement, and an important step in UQ’s reconciliation journey. “The University of Queensland is proud to be part of what is a new and emerging space for the higher education sector, that is re-shaping its learning, teaching, research and engagement environments,” Professor Fredericks said.

“UQ is among only a handful of Australian universities engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Design Principles for its physical and built environments. Our Design Principles Framework aims to ensure safe and welcoming spaces for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, along with offering all people a greater connection to what it means to visit, study or work within a great Australian university. This is important legacy work which adds to UQ’s master plan and contributes to shaping the way our campuses and premises will look and feel for generations to come.”

To read the University of Queensland UQ News article Creating connection to Country and Indigenous cultures on campus in full click here and to access the Campuses on Countries Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Design Framework at The University of Queensland click here.

Winnunga News – June 2022 edition

The Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services’ Winnunga News June 2022 edition has just been released. In her update CEO Julie Tongs OAM refers to the enormous and continuous strain the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing cases of influenza, have placed on staff and the operations at Winnunga as well as the Aboriginal community and Winnunga clients.

Articles in the newsletter cover:

• a visit to Winnunga by the Narrabundah Early Childhood School
• a review of the ACT Government’s plan to reform out of home care and child protection in the ACT
• the Uluru Statement From the Heart
• the eviction of 340 long term ACT public housing tenants
• the importance of not just moving on after Reconciliation Day
• the need for government leadership in relation to traditional custodianship
• what has gone wrong at the Alexander Maconochie Centre
• a Canberra artist’s portrait of Aunty Matilda House
• a COVID-19 and influenza update

You can access the Winnunga News June 2022 edition click here.

New process for job advertising

NACCHO have introduced a new system for the advertising of job adverts via the NACCHO website and you can find the sector job listings here.

Click here to go to the NACCHO website where you can complete a form with job vacancy details – it will then be approved for posting and go live on the NACCHO website.